Court halts dog auction after owner coughs up unpaid boarding fees

A court in Beijing has suspended an online auction for an abandoned dog after its owner got in touch and agreed to hand over almost $10,000 in unpaid kennel fees.

Dengdeng, a 4-year-old male shiba inu, was due to go under the hammer on e-commerce website Taobao on Nov 10, according to Chaoyang District People's Court.

However, the sale has been halted after the dog's owner, surnamed Xiao, contacted the court on Oct 31 and paid Chonglehui, a pet care company, 63,310 yuan ($9,100) in overdue kennel charges, Beijing Youth Daily reported.

Xiao, who lives in the United States, has also reached a deal with the company to secure accommodation for Dengdeng for two more months until he returns to China to collect the dog and take him to the US.

Judge Zhang Wei was quoted as saying that the court will officially cancel the auction once Xiao collects his pet.

According to earlier reports, Xiao had left Dengdeng with Chonglehui's boarding kennel several times between August 2014 and February 2015, which was when the company last heard from him.

Unable to contact Xiao, Chonglehui filed a lawsuit to demand more than 30,000 yuan in unpaid fees. The court ruled in the company's favor in September 2017 after Xiao failed to appear at the hearing. Later, it said Dengdeng would be auctioned to recoup Chonglehui's costs.

The case attracted huge attention on Chinese social media, with almost 300,000 people expressing their intention to take part in the sale.

Xiao, who has lived in the US and Australia since early 2015, said he found out about the auction through friends. He said he had lost Chonglehui's contact information and stopped using his Chinese phone number.